


You're My Pet

by thanhbear



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: It's not the type of fic the title suggests it is, Kimi Wa Petto AU, M/M, You're My Pet AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-06
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-12 13:35:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7107043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thanhbear/pseuds/thanhbear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uptight, Type A Baekhyun finds himself adopting a "pet."</p>
            </blockquote>





	You're My Pet

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my lj [here](http://sheep-heart.livejournal.com/1152.html) for my dearest Kuro who I reread most of the manga series for. I can't seem to kick the habit of writing short things so forgive me... Thank you to my one and only Zai for beta-ing for me. u the MVP even though I keep dragging you into this mess.

"Lay?" Chanyeol repeats.

"Lay," Baekhyun confirms.

The corners of Chanyeol's mouth are twitching, sounding off various warning signals in Baekhyun's head. Chanyeol is fighting a losing battle and Baekhyun knows a smile is ready to bloom at any moment. It's a classic tale tell sign that Baekhyun is about receive the brunt of it.

Chanyeol presses a closed fist to his lips to suppress his laugh. "You named him after your dead dog?" Somewhere in the middle of that sentence Chanyeol gave up on speaking legibly and Baekhyun had to pick out the actual words from the raucous laughter.

"It was his idea. --And Lay was my best friend and arguably the best dog ever," he tries to defend himself.

His attempt does nothing but throw more fuel to the fire. He can't even hear himself think over Chanyeol's cackling.

"Maybe you should've named him Sit instead," Chanyeol nearly doubles over, holding his stomach and slapping his knee. Right around where Chanyeol starts stomping his foot and throwing his head back is where Baekhyun draws the line.

This is why he never tells anybody anything.

 

 

\----

 

 

It was a good thing Baekhyun saved the Chinese left overs from last night. Of course he saved it for himself so it felt bittersweet to watch this stranger ( conveniently called Guy for now ) scarf it all down. Baekhyun sat slumped in his seat with his chin resting in his palm. He yawned again but didn't care enough to cover it up this time. That was what he deserved for staying up to help a random injured guy he found outside his doorstep. It was almost like he missed out on all those stranger danger lessons at primary school.

For all his good samaritan work, he was left fatigued and now hungry so he questioned why he even bothered in the first place.

Guy lifted his gaze off the plastic containers of food and gave Baekhyun a smile before reaching for the glass of water. Even behind those curly locks falling over his face, his eyes almost gleamed when he smiled.

Ah, right. Baekhyun's IQ usually dropped around a pretty face. It would explain why he once lowered his standards and dated a guy who was not only shorter than him, but earned less money than him. One could say Baekhyun had a habit of picking up strays.

"I'm done," a soft voice pulled Baekhyun out of his stream of thoughts. The foreign accent still caught Baekhyun by surprise even after getting an earful of it from last night. For a badly injured person, Guy stayed amazingly talkative through the night. For a rather asocial person, Baekhyun stayed amazingly patient with Guy through the night as well.

"Just leave it there. I'll clean up later," Baekhyun waved his hand in the air. "Your clothes are in that box there. As for the shirt, you can keep it. I never wear it anyway." That was a lie. But after seeing how much better it looked on Guy, he really didn't want it back anymore. "I'll walk you out to the lobby in a bit."

Guy shook his head and almost pouted. "The ones who jumped me might still be out there."

Ah, right. Guy owed someone money and didn't deliver. And to think people thought drama was only reserved for television.

"Listen, Gu-- You. I never let strange men stay at my apartment. I think I've been pretty generous so far."

Taken aback was one way to describe how Baekhyun felt when Guy pulled out the droppy puppy eyes and pout combo. Insulted was yet another way. As if he, a well established editor, would be swayed like this.

( But god, was he weak against that face. )

Guy folded his hands together, "Please? Pleasepleaseplease?"

"You have no money so you can't be my roommate. You have no money and you're hunted by a gang, so you can't be my boyfriend. The only option that doesn't require money, really, is to stay as my pet." Baekhyun snorted softly. Though he wasn't particularly interested in Guy's money, he knew making a big deal out of it would be the quickest way to drive Guy out. Better to do this now than wait until Guy to walk out when Baekhyun was no longer of use to him.

When Guy didn't respond, Baekhyun took that as his cue to pull out his wallet to get Guy some bus fare money. He wasn't completely heartless after all.

"Okay," Guy said, breaking the silence and causing Baekhyun's head to whip back around.

Baekhyun stared at him and waited for a "Just kidding, you sick fuck" to follow.

Or a loud door slam after Guy got up and gathered his stuff in a haste.

Just basically anything but him sitting there smiling back at Baekhyun and showing off that single dimple of his.

"Okay, what?" Baekhyun asked.

"Okay, it's a deal." Guy curled his hands up like two paws and flashed another smile. "Greetings, master~"

 

 

\----

 

 

"I need you to redo the layout of page 20. The flow isn't good," Baekhyun mentions as he pours himself a cup of coffee. Whoever said that talking about work during breaktime was taboo obviously hasn't seen the mess that is page 20.

With the way Jongdae's face wrinkles up, he can tell Jongdae isn't holding any bit of his annoyance back. ( --Which is still more refreshing compared to the sneaking glances and whisperings behind hands from other co-workers. ) "Aye aye, captain," Jongdae pairs his words with a mocking salute.

Whenever the cat-like corners of Jongdae's mouth begins to twitch, that's his tell that he has something weighing on his mind. Baekhyun merely sighs into the edge of his mug and gestures for Jongdae to spit it out.

"So is it a kinky thing?"

He sputters and the hot coffee splashes against his top lip. He immediately sets down the mug and wipes at his lip with the back of his hands. "What? I just want you to rearrange page 20. I'm not getting off on it."

"Not that," Jongdae shoots him a look. "Lay being your 'pet'. Is it a kinky thing?"

"No, it is not a kinky thing. Where did you even hear about Lay? Was it--"

They both reply in unison, "Chanyeol." Baekhyun has to close his eyes tight to keep from rolling them too hard.

This is why he never tells anybody anything. Especially Chanyeol.

"It's not a kinky thing," he repeats, placing emphasis on each word. "He needs a place to stay and I need someone who keeps me company, is obedient, and unconditionally think I'm wonderful. That's what pets are for, right?"

"That's an awfully self-centered view on pet owning. I think I preferred it when it was a kinky thing."

Baekhyun picks his mug back up. It's far too early for him to be dealing with talks like this. Or any talk at all for that matter. "It's not a kinky thing. We don't do anything weird."

 

 

\----

 

 

A right hand with a deep cut down the palm. A left arm covered in bruises with enough colors to make any paint palette jealous. This was why Baekhyun got stuck with sitting beside his tub on shampoo duty for Lay. Personal hygiene did unfortunately fall under the list of pet owner responsibilities, Lay reminded him.

"Lay," Baekhyun said as he lathered up Lay's curly mess of hair.

Lay tilted his head back to look at Baekhyun, "Hmm?"

"Don't move. If I get shampoo in your eyes it's your fault," he gently pushed Lay's head back to its original position. "What did you do before this?"

"I ate the food you gave me." Lay's shoulders shook as he giggled.

The little shit... Baekhyun leaned forward and blew against Lay's neck. Lay's shoulders rose up to protect the rest of his exposed neck as he recoiled away. Lay said something about Baekhyun knowing that Lay hated whenever he did that. And it was true. Baekhyun did indeed know that Lay had an extremely sensitive neck.

"You know what I meant. Before you got here, where did you like to go? What did you like to do, etc, etc..."

"I dance for a studio company in the city. I sorta ran away from home in order to pursue it," Lay replied nonchalantly.

Gutsy. It'd explain why his muscles were so toned yet not beefy and gross. "And where is home? I'm assuming it's not in Korea."

Lay clapped his hands together loud enough to make Baekhyun jump. "Wah. You're really perceptive! I'm from Changsha-- That's in China. But home is here. With you."

If he didn't know any better, he'd actually think that Lay really did enjoy staying with him.

 

 

\----

 

 

"I thought you said Lay was sweet."

Baekhyun's too invested in checking over some editoral spreads on his tablet to look up at Chanyeol. But judging by his tone, Chanyeol's most likely looking like an angry pissbaby.

"He is sweet," he replies, filled with confidence towards the topic subject ( and lacked enthusiasm towards the speaker ).

"Nah, nah, nah. Did you even see him? I don't like the way he looked at me."

"Maybe he just didn't like the way you looked in general. You did just come back from a jog." Baekhyun smirks to himself at his own joke.

Chanyeol's hands wrapped around his tablet and yanked it out from Baehyun's hands. "I'm serious, Baekhyun! He kept giving me this death glare," he protested then recreated the look himself.

"And what kind of look do you think I'm giving you right now? I'm trying to work here."

"Aish! Why is he taking his role as a pet that seriously? He probably wanted to bark at me too."

Baekhyun held his hand out for his tablet. "We all want to bark at you, Chanyeol. People get defensive over other people they like. Let it go."

 

 

\----

 

 

9:00pm on the dot. That usually meant Baekhyun was on the couch either catching up on current events or watching his dramas. More often than not, it was the latter. That secret, however, remained between Baekhyun and Lay. On Lay's part, if Baekhyun was anywhere near the couch, Lay would plant his head in Baekhyun's lap within mere seconds. Not that Baekhyun really minded. Over time, he had built up an affinity for lazily threading his slender fingers through Lay's hair.

( He could've sworn he heard Lay purr one time but Lay vehemently denied it. )

"Baekhyun, can I ask a question?"

He might've figured something was bothering Lay with how tense he felt curled up against Baekhyun's side. He didn't want to bring it up but it still bothered him to some degree. "What is it?"

A brief pause.

"Is Chanyeol your boyfriend?"

"That's character defamation on my part. Don't ever say that in front of anybody else. He's just someone I've known for a very long time." The words "best friend" was often avoided since history didn't necessarily mean intimacy. Someone you've known for a while could still be a stranger, while you could feel very close to someone you've just met.

Lay never said anything after that and remained that way even after the credits started rolling. Baekhyun didn't feel like bringing the topic back up after such a long time. He wasn't the type to prod and poke but the coversation felt unresolved. Lay laid there as tense as ever and no amount of petting and stroking changed that.

"Hey Lay," he stroked Lay's hair with extra mindfullness than usual. "Did you not like it when Chanyeol came over today?"

The other shook his head. "I like it better when it's just us two at home."

"If it makes you feel better, so do I."

Luckily that did the trick. Baekhyun released a long sigh of relief as Lay snuggled closer to him.

 

 

\----

 

 

Tao: Hey!  
Sent: 1:32 pm  
Read: 1:40pm

Baekhyun: What's up  
Sent: 2:05pm

Tao: I heard you just got a dog :)  
Sent: 2:07pm  
Read: 2:10pm

Baekhyun: Yeah I did  
Sent: 2:12pm

Tao: What kind of breed is he?  
Sent: 2:13pm  
Read: 2:15pm

Baekhyun: Idk. He's Chinese  
Sent: 2:16pm

Tao: I've been trying to find a play date for Candy.  
Tao: Kai rarely ever has time to meet up any more.  
Sent: 2:18pm  
Read: 2:19pm

Baekhyun: Haha I'll see if Lay is up for it  
Sent: 2:22pm

Tao: You've been enjoying having Lay around?  
Sent: 2:25pm  
Read: 2:25pm

Baekhyun: Yeah it's nice  
Sent: 2:27pm

 

 

\----

 

 

Baekhyun always believed that there weren't enough hours within a work shift. With deadlines piling up and about a dozen other editors to check in with and coordinate with during any given week, he had a habit of staying at work even after everybody else left.

The past few weeks on the other hand got Baekhyun realizing how long and drawn out work really was. Within any given day, too many of the problems that come his way could be handled by somebody else.

The fact that he had been picking up everybody else's slack started to feel a little too much like high school for him. Baekhyun would never brag by saying he was always "The Smart Reliable Kid In Class" but that was him. Years later and he upgraded to "The Smart Reliable Editor in Office." Nothing had changed other than the way he grew a few more inches and how he got paid to put up with the same crap.

He just wanted to clock in. Do his share of work. Clock out. Go home. And lay on the couch until he passes out.

The first three steps had already been done for the day. The fourth was about to be complete as soon as he stepped through the door.

The door barely creaked open and already behind the doorway was Lay, half lidded eyes and dimple and all. As per usual.

Baekhyun braced himself.

"Welcome hooooome!" Lay opened his arms wide and threw them around Baekhyun. "I missed you so much today."

Now the first few times this happened, Lay pretty much knocked Baekhyun straight off his feet. If anything, it felt more like he got tackled than hugged. He had no idea what Lay did with his day, but the energy he was bustling with whenever Baekhyun got home was unparalleled.

Today Baekhyun wrapped his arms back around Lay. Not because he needed the support to keep from falling, but because it just felt right. Lay had a way telling you "Good job on making it through your day" with his hugs. So Baekhyun figured the least he could do was indirectly tell him "Thanks for being here" back.

"Baekhyun, do you want to catch a rerun of Flowerboy Next Door? I recorded it for you."

Such a nice gesture actually made Baekhyun crack a smile. ( Possibly the first one of the day. ) As much as he wanted to go watch, Lay's embrace felt so comfortable that he could fall asleep right there as long as Lay held him up. Lay's firm shoulders surprisingly made for a great pillow alternative. All in all, it was not a terrible thing to come back home to. Not wanting to move from this spot right away, Baekhyun continued to stand still for a few moments longer.

Lay rocked them both in small swaying motions from side to side. "Baekhyu-u-u-n," he sang, trying to get the other's attention. "We can make tea first if you want."

Baekhyun never had to tell Lay anything and yet Lay always knew the right thing to do.

"Hmm. Yeah, sorry. That sounds nice. Let me go change first, okay?"


End file.
